


Monsters

by Second_Best



Series: Death Note [1]
Category: Death Note
Genre: Intellectual Sex, Light Angst, M/M, Sexual Content, based on canon, light lemon, trigger warning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-08
Updated: 2015-04-08
Packaged: 2018-03-21 21:12:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3704961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Second_Best/pseuds/Second_Best
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Light and L are complicated characters, and their minds deserve to be dissected.<br/>They are digging deeper at each other. And then they are getting intimate.<br/>This story is based on canon, therefore it is a PAINFUL one.<br/>About their own thoughts, about their thoughts on each other, and about why they are a perfect tragedy.</p>
<p>[Timeline based on DeathNote: How to Read]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: I Win.

**Author's Note:**

> This fictional work includes the following:  
> [Prologue, Chapter 1, Chapter 2 and Epilogue]
> 
> And two things:  
> 1.) This is not light reading and might induce headaches because of complex conversation.  
> 2.) There are no rainbows, pretty butterflies and a happy ending.  
> And if you don't flinch at either of those...  
> I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed putting my soul (4 days of obsessive writing) into it.

## Monsters

_"Lying Monsters are a real nuisance._  
_They are much more cunning than other monsters._  
_They pose as humans even though they have no understanding of the human heart,_  
_They eat even though they've never experienced hunger,_  
_They study even though they have no interest in academics,_  
_They seek friendship even though they do not know how to love._  
_If I were to encounter such a monster, I would likely be eaten by it._

_Because in truth, I am that monster."_

_\- Lawliet, L._

\---

  
**PRELUDE: I WIN**

L was an effortlessly deceptive Liar.  
The three greatest detectives in the world were one person.  
Having said that, he was alone.

L came to this hypothesis after he'd dragged himself into a chair to solve his first case as a child.  
After being presented with compiled evidence, L proceeded to draw 5 indisputable conclusions based on them before leaning into the microphone and divulging the suspect.  
He took note of the collective murmurs from the Interpol heads, delicately tapped mute on the vocal distorter and mumbled at Watari for a plate of cookies.  
He mulled over the incompetence of an International organization as he licked crumbs off his thumb and decided that statistically, the world's supposed brightest were less intelligent than he.  
Taking into account regional recruiting, aboriginal tribes, the Wammy's House orphans and North Korea, the chance there was someone like him was about 12%.

This estimate dwindled as L got older, when national cases became effortless, he began online schooling the orphans, and they migrated servers to better coordinate with the Interpol on a global scale.  
The figure plummeted even more after the successes of Eraldo Coil and Deneuve, though L did find slight amusement in the fact he ranked first, second and third in the "World's greatest detectives" listing.

And then, on January 8, 2004 - right before he could cut the figure down to 3%, he met Yagami Light.  
Or rather, got acquainted with his mind through a living room surveillance camera.  
"Your son is quite intelligent, isn't he." L rhetorically mused.  
"Well," Yagami Soichiro gruffly said, "- yes."

L was 25.  
The encounter stirred at his synapses.  
And it would be the last 10 months of his life.

\---


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER ONE: SEEN BY L**

-

L was a Lying Monster, the very worst of Monsters.  
It took one to know one.  
And he always knew his kind would consume him. 

The echo of footsteps stopped.  


"Again with this?" Light sighed in the middle of the hallway.  
"I get it, you think I'm Kira." His mouth quirked and he eyed L, enough so the security cameras could catch the expression on his face.  
"I suspect you _could_ be Kira." L half-heartedly corrected with the same blank expression.  
After having another long discussion with Yagami Light on possible movement in the Kira case, he was almost certain now that he was not alone in his level of Intelligence after all.  
And more importantly, he was almost just as certain that Yagami Light was indeed Kira.

"Well, there's really nothing I can do about that..." Light completely faced him now, and there was an expert lilt of laughter in his tone as he tucked his hands into his pockets. "I'll just have to prove you wrong each time."  
"I find it peculiar you feel the need to mention 'proving,' each time..." L murmured, noting that Light's hands had slightly fisted in his pockets.  
"... when I am simply reiterating a possibility."  
A Lie. He had never been so certain.

"And why do you feel a need to reiterate?" Light looked mildly exasperated and diminutively amused. His act was flawless. But L enjoyed appearing oblivious and did it to gain advantage as well.

_You are socially adept, Yagami Light. I will give you that._

"To constantly remind you of my suspicions. Relax, Yagami-kun." he indulged him in his deadpan way.  
"Pretty sure if you were repeatedly accused of ‘possibly’ being Kira by a world-class detective with a flawless resume, L, you'd be just as frustrated." Light snorted.  
"From this point until we enter the premises of the conference room, please address me as Ryuzaki, and flattery will get you nowhere."  
"I thought Watari thoroughly inspected this floor?" Light glanced at him and continued walking.  
"Yes. And the security cameras are audio-disabled, but one can always lip-read from the footage retrieved, seeing as you were conveniently facing one for the most part. Though this is my building, the security personnel do not know who I am."  


Yes, Yagami Light will put on a show for anyone who watches.  
"'Hell' and 'L' are lip-read identically." He straightened his silk-lined coat.  
And Yagami Light will have thought the show through carefully. 

"Peppering proper language is unnecessary, and very unlike you."

-

* * *

-

Yagami Light always seemed to be walking alongside him in his mind.  
Perhaps, that was the reason why L also physically wanted to walk alongside him instead of in front or behind him as he normally would with others.

He had worked with many intelligent people. From those who understood him without having him explain twice, to those who were capable of presenting sound opinions that would pique his interest and admiration. Despite all sorts of encounters, L was only ever impressed enough to stop for a moment or two, but he was always undeniably one or more steps ahead.

This was not the case with Yagami Light, though he hated to admit it.

L had grown aware of how Yagami Light would purposely stall, allowing L to think he was lagging. And just as he thinks Light has conceded, the man would dash forward and ahead, jolting L to the point he took offense and became childish; and it spurned competition.  
L found he was enjoying it.  
This game - fueled with boosts of sugar, careful disarming and adrenalin-laced strategy. 

He’d grown aware of his own pupil dilations when the sun seemed to be glaring almost painfully-harsh over the bridge of Light's nose, the slight change in his heart rate every time their verbal exchanges escalated.  
Perhaps, that was why the average number of times in a day he had looked away from his computer to give attention to Light's observations now surpassed the number of times he looked at anyone else from the taskforce.  
  
Why he didn't hesitate to relay messages for Light directly to him, and relay messages for everyone else through Light.

Perhaps, L who usually held on to Justice with an iron grip was finding something else, within this challenging case, worth observing.  
This Monster was like him, but it was also walking a very different path.  
And the possibilities of those different paths were things he pondered at night, sitting with his knees pressed to his chest, listening to the whir of the database when everyone else had retired to the couches or their rooms, feeling his steady pulse along with the constant bleeps, waiting for exhaustion.

Why was Yagami Light so interesting?

In truth he knew the answer to that. There had never been another like L Lawliet, and now, here was one Yagami Light - physically his opposite and mentally his likeness, except...

"Before I contribute anything, if I predict the current whereabouts of Second Kira, based on the tapes and evidence collected, would that increase the likelihood that I am not Kira?" Light joked.

_… You are Kira._

L didn't humor this with an answer.  
Aizawa nodded as he spotted them, "Ryuzaki, Light." he acknowledged them as he opened the door to the conference room.

-

* * *

-

Light's demeanor changed as soon as the latest case files were opened.  
His concentration took him and as always his movement gave nothing away of the thoughts going through his mind. L found he was quite different once the hard evidence was laid out before him. It almost looked like Light moved at a set of commands triggered on cue, and they were all perfectly orchestrated to reveal... Nothing.  
As expected. 

-

The projector is showcasing several split-screens of black and white surveillance camera footage, all of them looping prisoner deaths simultaneously, and L slides through two or three papers with his forefingers to verify what he is about to say.  
“Thank you, Watari.” - All the while never forgetting his british upbringing.  
“Not at all.”  


L’s thumb taps against his lip as he speaks.  
"So, it becomes apparent. Records show that the victims all originate from the same Cell Block, dying within the span of 3 days. They were caught at different times for a number of offenses, all inmates with minimum sentences of 5 years..." L pauses in his summary and plucks a strawberry-chocolate mousse from the cart beside him.  
He dabs a pinky at the whipped cream and licks at it.  
"-mostly for deadly forms of assault..." He decides to lick directly into the shot glass.  
He notices Light's eyes leave the projector screen to cast him a glance.  
L blinks at him, unsurprised.

"But if they were all caught at different times and the station didn't release public records of their names or faces in years... How did Kira manage to kill only this particular Cell Block?" Matsuda asks, eyes wide.

"Kira has access to classified information. But that is not what is intriguing here. What do you think, Light-kun?"  
L didn’t bother giving Matsuda a glance. He was still staring at Light.  


"Well," Light lingers slowly "- first, we'll have to distinguish if this is the work of Kira or Second Kira. The possibility of Kira having access to names and faces is definite, since Kira is aware of classified information. But more than that... Kira was able to kill an entire Cell Block, even if there are other assault inmates scattered throughout the other Cell Blocks too. The database prisoner names are classified by crime and sentence, not by Cell Block. So, when we take that into consideration… Kira could have access to the staff criminal records directly from the prison, and every other prison in every prefecture.” 

L’s expression gives nothing away even when the rest of the Taskforce is mumbling their dismay at this possibility. And Light impulsively knows he’s still waiting for the catch. 

“Moving on, the probability of Second Kira doing this is a little higher..." Light finally says. 

As expected, Yagami Light. You look at all the possibilities.  
Now present your evidence. 

"Why do you think that?" Yagami Soichiro asks, turning to his son.  
Light finally breaks the staring contest with L and loosens in his chair before speaking.  


  
"These criminals aren't top brass and Second Kira knows well that Kira is more likely to execute currently broadcasted names and faces... Plus, these criminals are from the region the latest Kira reply tape came from. We know Second Kira seems to have an affinity for those who commit acts of assault and that they’re able to kill with faces alone…. So, actually, it’s as simple as wire-tapping the surveillance cameras. Anyone from the security personnel could do it."

From the corner of his eye, L sees Matsuda nod in agreement at all the valid points.

And then Light throws his trump card down with a carefully frustrated sigh.  
"Though I suppose that doesn't really matter, and it could just be Kira wanting us to reach this conclusion..." His face slips into calculated thought and his eyes catch L’s.  
"... After all, we know Kira has killed petty criminals before. It’s just unpredictable."

L is biting a little too hard on his thumb.  
_Yagami Light, you are purposely misleading me._  
He feels an exhilarating rush prickle at his skin and notes with half-a-mind, a slight increase of heart rate.  
"So there is just as much likelihood to expect Kira as much as Second Kira. Is that what you're now saying?" L inquires quietly.  


Light breaks his concentration enough and allows a small smile.  
"It is highly possible. I'd consider both at this point, and then conduct a background check on how the prison is run, who the staff are, and any forms of press release on the inmates in the past month and a half."

As predicted, you are forwarding the investigation. But to what end.  
Kira would likely run circles around the Taskforce, and this proposal provides just that, more chances for cold leads.  
But you are impressive, Yagami Light. 

"Hmm..." L hunches over to reach for a miniature cream puff until his office chair gives a lurch, "- now I have more reason to suspect that Kira is responsible for this particular batch of murders."  
He delicately pries the pastry open and licks both sides quickly.  
"Why do you think that?" Light's face is carefully-masked curiosity.  
"Because, right when Kira creates an obvious pattern..." L lowers the pastry, flattening it between his thumb and forefinger, "he breaks it, purposely to mislead us. Not only that, Kira covers his tracks by disproving what we speculate he initially cannot do. In this case, it is gathering names and faces of inmates clustered in one Cell Block without distinct means to acquire this information, as in the past."  
He sucks the cream puff into his mouth.

"Ryuzaki, you sound so sure. But let's not rule anything out just yet. I want to secure more facts with some follow-through research, don’t you?"  
Light's brown eyes are almost warm, and he smiles.  
For a moment, L allows himself to entertain the thought that Light is genuinely happy about this verbal exchange, or impressed that he has read him perfectly, and his stomach lurches along with the chair as he reaches for another shot glass dessert.

 _I'm one step ahead of you._  
Another Lie. He swipes at the spongy tiramisu and touches it to his tongue.  
_I'm right beside you._  
Light is still looking at him, and the rest of the room is lost in thought.

-

* * *

-

It was 2:30am.  
L was hunched over his laptop with his knees only partially inclined, using an estimated 57% of his usual deductive capacity.  
He was reading a case study about Russian sociopathic behavior - Kira’s latest area of coverage - compartmentalizing the information and comparing it to his killing patterns.  
Some of them displayed glimpses of conscience in their actions, such as touching an inmate’s hand when it was highly unlike them before taking their own lives.  
Others had careful instructions for burials, sometimes startlingly similar to conditions in which they’d left their victims.  
His knees curled tighter.  
It was becoming increasingly more difficult to discern a pattern.  
But he was certain Kira was purposely carving more paths in his constructed maze because L always discovered something Kira purposely left behind as a mark of his own doing.  
Light suggested that they both cover this aspect thoroughly.  
All the signs of an investigator willing to do everything in his capacity to help further the closure of the case. 

L closed his laptop and set it aside.  
Why was Yagami Light so interesting?

In physical aspects, Yagami Light was an epitome of achievement.  
L recognized this because his mind measured symmetry quite accurately.  
He was no stranger to the standards of the elite, Watari made certain of that.  
He could conduct himself respectably in a suit with a straight spine.   
But his mind needed certain conditions to work. And his feet preferred the feel of a steady ground to shiny oxfords.  


... He also followed Eighteen magazine.  
And in lieu with previously released issues, Yagami Light could easily grace a cover or two.

Though the youngest member of the Taskforce was undeniably an aesthetic marvel,  
L had easily dismissed it as reason for his interest within seconds of consideration.   
This was, in no way at all, the cause for an overenthusiastic stomach, sternum palpitations, painfully-dilating pupils or rapidly increasing heart rates.  
The 25 year old detective's mind simply did not tick that way.  


To L, looks had always been a combined art of measurements and coincidental or purposeful charm.   
The former, something he knew how to compute and found boring. And the latter, something he found pointless to further his own advantages.   
Charm was not something he had or needed to attain to be efficient.  
L knew exactly what the catalyst was because he scored more than a 98 percentile average on Stanford-Binet, Cattell and Mensa International Intelligence exams.

It was Yagami Light's Mind.

Yagami Light's words. Neatly packaged and perfectly delivered - With an adequate amount of pauses, gracious usage, and thorough analysis.  
Yagami Light's careful body language which was as predictable as a pamphlet to him - pleasing to the untrained eye, and strangely absent of any inconspicuous quirks or oddities - But also, curiously too guarded.  
And Yagami Light's accuracy, structured like steel foundations leaving little room for anyone to doubt, but leaving much room for him to consider the most improbable inconsistencies.

Yagami Light's mental capacity and brilliance was a game and set tennis match, each verbal exchange was a thundering jolt of the racket, the shots were quick, but L knew the counters. This game that left them both in a parrying dance, panting, hair damp and pasted to their necks and foreheads, their bodies aching and exhilarated, their eyes on each other, waiting, gauging, intellectually-stimulating...  
L felt he had never encountered such a profound and worthy opponent before, such a beautiful, careful, unfathomable... Monster.

And his hand was on the zipper of his pants.

 _"Are you ready for this?"_  
_He looks up at the stack of papers in Light's hands._  
_"What is it?"_

L's slim fingers unbutton his fly.

_"Conclusive evidence." A glint reflects off those triumphant brown eyes._

L's fingers brush at the thin cotton of his boxers.  
And in a rare moment, he allows his eyes to close though it isn’t for sleep.  
His mind flawlessly replays the memory.

 _"You wouldn't be able to say this was Kira's doing." L blatantly states after looking over the first few pages._  
_"Huh. Why not?" Light's eyebrows lift mildly, his face a perfect mask of naivety._  
_"This man is still on trial, he has an outstanding alibi and an incompetent lawyer."_  
_"Lawyers are bred to be anything but incompetent."_  
_"Yagami-kun, that is biased and irrelevant. And you know well, that there are incompetent lawyers."_  
_"Well, in this particular case I'm being realistic, Ryuzaki." Light’s finger traps another slim sheet, pulling this time to reveal the lawyer’s resume._  
_"You are being blindly optimistic, and straying from the subject matter. Even if this lawyer has a perfect record of wins in the courtroom, incompetence is when you fail to defend your client for a kidnapping, despite the evidence showcasing he was clearly elsewhere based on surveillance footage."_  
_A bubbling chuckle from Light. "You're right. Kira would have seen that."_  
_"I almost feel insulted on his behalf, Yagami-kun."_  
_Light leans forward, holding out a paper not previously included in the stash._  
_An exhale, too close, ghosts along L’s cheek._  
_"And what if he was possibly responsible for a missing person case filed the day after, in the same area as the surveillance footage suggests."_  
_"... Coincidence?" L attempts, already knowing the answer._  
_"... Is it." Light concludes with false closure, searching him with a look._

"No..."  
Their minds touch, deliciously. 

L bites hard at his bottom lip and stifles another low sound, his spine curling, pressing against the headboard, pressing hard. His pale fingers grip and stroke, and this movement is gratifying.

 _"No." Light repeats and his mouth quirks almost painfully. "We know Kira isn't stupid."_  
_"Your presentation of facts was set to push me into a farce corner, please do not withhold the evidence you have on hand." L is a little bitter._  
_"I'm only getting back at you." A slight accusation made mild. Childish, just like him._  
_"Yagami-kun, that was different. The four photographs I showed you in the cafe were a test of deduction to see if you could join the Taskforce. This is an authentic case of possible Kira murder."_  
_"It's no different. It's exactly the same." Light eases his tone._  
_"If it were exactly the same, as you say, then there is fake information here as well."_  
_Silence._  
_L looks up to see a different kind of smile on Light's face._  
_"You're testing me." L reads him perfectly._  
_"I am." Light's pupils dilate._

L recalls the rush and it is enough to send his hips bucking upwards.  
His free hand grips the sheets, and he imagines fingers threading through brown strands and how it would ruin the impeccable way Light styles his bangs.  
The thought of undoing this careful aesthetic sends another spiral through L's body and he hears his own sharp hitch of breath.  
His other hand fists himself almost delicately and the motions escalate...

 _"Congratulations, Ryuzaki."_  
_The room is quiet, and the hard-drives crackle as Light stretches his arms above his head with a triumphant smile._  
_"You've uncovered the flaw in the encryption of the database! At least the file folders for the last 12 years are locked again."_  
_"A little too late, perhaps." L nips at his thumbnail._  
_Light looks down purposely at the finger pressed to the detective's lip._  
_His eyes then accurately project sinking enthusiasm to distract him._  
_"The timeframe when the records were visible was only about 4 minutes, Ryuzaki. 3:32am to 3:36am, on a weekday. When majority of the work force and thoroughly habitual people are asleep and not coincidentally breaking into the National Police archives’ temporary passcode."_  
_"Yes, however the fact that you're this happy, Yagami-kun... It speaks volumes." L's legs curl in tighter._  
_"I'm not allowed to be happy for addressing a problem that requires the skillset of a top hacker?" Light's voice rises, slightly incredulous._  
_He'd overdone it. They both reach the conclusion at the same time._  
_L eyes him, unfazed. "I'm not saying that. Simply implying that your level of elation surpasses the expected amount for something that is a 4 minute flaw. The Yagami Light I suspect to know is a perfectionist who has scored 100% in the To-Oh University entrance exam. He would not have been quite so satisfied."_  
_"And you're saying that makes me..." Light narrows his eyes, and L is driven to take a donut._  
_"-quite suspicious." L finishes for him, licking at the crystals of sugar._  
_"Though you are entitled to overwhelming emotions... I can say Kira certainly would be that happy."_  
_"This is ridiculous, L."_  
_"Is it?" This time L's obsidian eyes lock on Light, though he isn't questioning him at all._

His heart is beating mad to the tennis match, his worn jeans hanging halfway down his thighs and his breathing becomes labored as he comes closer... and closer.  


_“I don’t know what I should do to convince you that I’m not Kira.”_  
_“The truth is the truth, and I will see it without any necessary convincing involved.” L murmurs._  
_Light looks away and exhales. Then he gives a small, painfully genuine smile._  
_And L concludes with certainty that this brief moment and that smile was not a lie, and that Yagami Light was quite enjoying this._  


_Light shakes his head and closes his eyes, and L cannot read him anymore._  
_"Goodnight, Ryuzaki."_  


L's lips part as if to answer, and he lowers sideways, sending a muffled groan into his goose-down pillow before biting down on one corner, and he spills into his boxers, straddling a mountain of bunched-up comforters. Pushing himself against the silk as he shudders, canting almost tenderly with the last waves of what he rationalizes is just a release of dying sperm.  
His nose presses into the sheets and his breathing slows, and the room grows cold.

"Goodnight, Light-kun." he whispers back, low and throaty into the sheets.  
And then he smiles a rare smile that nobody ever sees and closes his eyes.

…

In truth, L knows exactly what this is all about.  
Only he refuses to acknowledge it.  
Because Monsters only ever masqueraded as humans, sometimes, seeking friendship.  
And even if they felt less alone, they did not really know how to love.

\--- 


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 2: SEEN BY LIGHT**

-

Light was Righteous.  
L was Judicial.  
Perhaps, it was the other way around.  
Or perhaps, they were both.

According to Ryuk, Light was Self-Entitled.  
A term the Shinigami had only learned recently and immediately afterwards began throwing about.  
He still constantly referred to Light as "just someone who happened to pick up the notebook."

Ryuk knew Yagami Light was incredibly smart.  
The bus-jacking with Raye Penber, persuading Naomi Misora to give away her real name and eliminating her through suicide, killing the whole FBI team in Japan, and all his anal preparations have proven this.  
But Ryuk still thought he was just a human with a Shinigami’s notebook, and that he owed him for spotting 64 cameras in his room.

The sun was setting and Light had just finished erasing his laptop’s browser history and doing a System Restore to get rid of any signs he had been visiting Kira-worship forums, and worse, FBI police records. He clicked new windows and read some news articles to replace the empty data so it wouldn't be too clean. He even included a porn-site or two so his laptop projected convincing 18 year old normalcy.

"'Entitled,' Ryuk, not ‘Self-Entitled.’ Your terminology is redundant, and it has a negative implication when you use it that way, so I don't like it." He stretched and shrugged off his coat.  
Ryuk widened his tooth grin, "Whatever you say, Light. You’re entitled. To your own opinion."  
Light ignored his rasping chuckle and the Shinigami never used the term on him again. 

There was no shred of doubt on the matter that he deserved this power and this notebook.  
He was, after all, the only one who could properly do this.  
Even if he had to stay 24/7 at the newly-built Kira Taskforce Headquarters, Light was prepared - No.  
He had been waiting for this.  
To get closer to L. And finally get rid of him.

"When are you moving in with your new... Friend." Ryuk said the last word mockingly, before he slid into a rasping chuckle.  
"Terminology, Ryuk."  
"Humans are so sensitive." The Shinigami snorted.  
Unlike the first statement, this next one didn't affect Light at all.  
Perhaps because he was starting to think humans were a separate category, even if he wouldn't admit it. 

\- 

* * *

\- 

Light's eyes darted left and right over the database of new criminals being updated in real-time. He checked the time-stamps on each death, and made a mental run through of whether it matched up to the Death Note or not.

"Ryuzaki..." He called, slowly enough that the end of the name dangled precariously.  
Any sort of hesitation in his voice drew L like a moth to a flame. He knew this.  
And just as he anticipated, L’s eyes lifted from his laptop with a gauging look.  
“Yes, Yagami-kun?”  
"It's 15 today. 10 Heart-attacks and 5 with unexplained behaviors. One actually bashed his head on the frame of the cot above him a few times, and bled to death."

_Interesting. I only wrote "- kills himself through repetitive behavior."_  
_Did that mean repetitive behavior varied depending on the victim's impulsive thoughts?_

"It seems Kira is performing more experimentation to test his capabilities."  


L used his hands to propel his wheeled swivel chair towards Light's station.  
Their chairs bumped and L purposely stretched himself towards the other boy’s monitor, eyes wide and vacant.  
"Could you send me that report so I can look it over myself, please."  
"Sure." Light answered, even if L hadn’t really been asking.  
But the detective still didn’t move, causing Light to notice that he was uncharacteristically much too close.  
"Ryuzaki, you have chocolate syrup in your hair."  
"Do I? Where."  
Light deliberately eyed the sticky strand, offensively stark against L’s pale cheek.  
And L deliberately eyed Light.... and not the sticky strand.  
… He'd seen all he needed to see by stalling.

The silence is now pregnant, and Light extracts a hanky and holds it out.  
"Thank you, Yagami-kun." L pinches at the cloth, kicking himself away with one bare foot.  
The weight in the air lifts, slightly. 

"By the way, did you happen to get the Ai-Ai chocolates I requested?"  
"Of course." Light answers. 

_He’s thinking of groceries. That means he’s looked at the time-stamps and he's matching them with my trip to the store._  
_Amateur, Ryuzaki. I know what you're thinking._  
_But these deaths were set a month in advance and they won't add up._  


L languidly steps off the swivel chair, traversing the room towards the cluster of paper bags.  
The other boy watches from the corner of his eye.  
L plucks up the grocery receipt and phones Watari the total to be charged to his own account.  
He mumbles something about the rising prices of coffee grounds and how the recent storm tearing through Brazil is affecting Robusta and Liberica plantations. 

_Distraction. He's looking at the time on the receipt, and the address of the store so he can access surveillance footage._  
_Nice try._  
_But I'm not that careless._  


"Yagami-kun, according to the identification serial numbers of the inmates, all of them on that list have been locked up for more than a month, is that correct?"  
Light’s blood runs cold.  
"Well... If the prison records confirm everything matches up, then yes."  
L is inspecting a juice pack, turning the box around, eyeing the printed text.  
“Then, we can fairly say that there is a possibility these might have been planned in advance, since these names and faces were made public weeks ago. Coincidentally, the week after Kira first started killing...”

_Damn it!_

Light's heartbeat inches up a notch and he sets his jaw.  
"If this is the case..." L's voice drops roughly,  
"We can then assume, Yagami-kun... That Kira can pre-determine his victims' time of death."  


_L... You bastard..._

Light feels his palms start to moisten, and his heart is racing hard.  
L turns to him, his face a blank canvas.  
And then he smiles, almost undetectably.  
Light feels his chest tighten even more and he struggles to breathe appropriately.  
His stomach knots as L extracts the rest of the groceries with almost deliberate slowness.  
Was it fear? 

“Yeah, possibly.” Light smiles back, and his skin is tingling on full alert, his vision sharpens as the adrenaline kicks in.

No... Excitement. He has never felt more alive.  
The detective holds up the box of chocolates and shakes it.  
"It appears I have acquired a Hideki Ryuga collector card." He drawls, with slight amusement.  
“Well, that’s a coincidence.” Light lets out an impressively casual chuckle, referring to L’s college alias. 

_He got me._  
And in that moment, Light feels... strangely invigorated.

_If that’s the way it’s gonna be, L._  
_I'll backtrack to incarcerations from 4 or 5 months ago while reverting to recent broadcasts in between._  
_I’ll alternate them to make it seem intentional._

But L is not finished.  
"It is also possible Kira might start working on older cases alongside the current news, then."  
Light watches him study the card, turning it against the light to work the hologram.  
“- Hmm." The detective's other hand strokes against his cheek and his thumb pries at his upper lip, revealing a glimpse of teeth.  
"Assuming these were written the time the broadcasts took place, a month and a half ago. Kira would have to go further back than that. 2... no, 3 or 4 months worth of backlog captures... would be just so.” L returns to his chair, and hoists himself onto it with surprising athleticism.  
His voice is gravel as his obsidian eyes briefly meet Light's. “Access the records for this timeline and monitor the succeeding killings, please.”  
He settles in and begins licking almost lewdly at the corner of the chocolate bar.  
And Light does not miss this along with the fact that his handkerchief is now missing, and there is still chocolate syrup in L’s hair.  
“Alright.” The younger man answers, his mind trying to pick apart all the ways a handkerchief could spell Kira’s undoing... if it ended up in the hands of the World’s Greatest Detective. 

_I'm one step ahead of you._

Light knew it was a lie, but he would come up with something to make it truth.  


_I'm right beside you._

As if he hears, L looks straight at him, pushing a small corner of the bar into his mouth, tongue curling underneath it.

\- 

* * *

\- 

It was just after dinner and the rest of the Kira Taskforce members were designated to different prison patrols.  
Yagami Soichiro had gone home to retrieve more clothes for the move-in, and Light was left to manage the headquarters and monitor current news with L.  
They sat in silence, scrolling through Kira forums and streaming Interpol meetings.

10 monitors in the room played news feeds from Kanto as well as other prefectures.  
3 more monitors to the left and right aired real-time BBC, Bloomberg and CNN.  
But only one monitor was audible at a time.  
"Yagami-kun, switch audio to monitor 7, please." L didn't even blink as he continued typing with distinct mannerism.

**"-after the death of life-imprisonment sentenced Yashiro Takada and 5 other criminals, citizens are calling Kira 'the judgement of god-'"**

_The judgement of God or perhaps, a God._  
_The God of the New World._

Light kept his smile inside, his eyes stony in observance in case L had excellent peripheral vision and Watari would be reviewing the security footage from the camera 45 degrees above him.

**"- while others are calling Kira a modern-day plague, coincidence or simply... a Monster. This is Satoko Mayu reporting for NHN."**

"What do you think of that, Yagami-kun?"  
"Of what?"  
L slowly turned to him. "Of Kira and what Kira is."  
His obsidian eyes were impeccably sharp compared to the overall deadpan expression on his face.  
"... Do you think Kira is a Monster?"

_Of course not. Kira is a savior - Kira is cleansing - Kira is the hand of justice!_

Light allowed a short laugh to soften his features.  
"Well, I think anyone who has the power to kill would have to use it wisely."  
“Would have to?” L asked with renewed interest. “As opposed to choosing not to at all.”

_I’m playing right into his trap. But I’ll let you take me, L._

“You misunderstood me, Ryuzaki. Since this is happening, we can say Kira feels a need to.” Light explained.  
"So you are suggesting Kira feels deserving of this power, if he really did have control over it… As opposed to letting justice simply run its course.”  
L’s tone was dragging and disguised in boredom.  
But Light knew it was mockery.

“- He is conceited enough to force its hand. But it is undeniable that behind the proclamations of ‘making a world filled with good people,’ Kira... is nothing but a childish, self-entitled murderer."  
The corner of L’s mouth tugged upwards.

_Are you provoking me?_

Light had almost forgotten Ryuk was in the room.  
But now the Shinigami was laughing with low, dry rasps at the terminology that found its way back...  
And at how L was making him look like a delusional, egotistic bigot while the man sucked on the tip of his sugarcube pyramid.

He resisted narrowing his eyes.  
But inside, he was seething at the taunt.  
In front of him, L was feigning oblivion at the stretched silence, studying the latest ICPO reports while he efficiently deleted junk emails. 

_You’re waiting to see if I give myself away._  
_Well, I won’t, L. You’ll be dead before you see me lose any sort of composure._  
_Then, I can throw myself at your grave and laugh._

"Kira possibly doesn't have faith in the judicial system.” Light sighed.  
“Since he seems to be killing criminals at this point. And some who haven't even been officially convicted yet." His indifference was perfection.  
"Precisely." L nipped at his thumb again.  
"But Judgment for even those who have not been convicted is a thin line... towards simply murdering the innocent. And that is unquestionably the wrong way to enforce Justice."  
Light did not respond to this.  
He was too busy noting that L's eyes had taken on a slightly different expression upon meeting his own.

“Yagami-kun. If Kira is only a man who dreams of creating a better world, I suspect this is simply a tragedy...” The detective’s face was strangely somber.  
“- Because though it is clear he is a murderer by all definition, he is too blind to see this simple fact.”  
Light watched as he tenderly picked up a sugarcube.  
“There is only one thing he sees. And it is that his actions are good.”  
L knocked the sugarcube against the pyramid and half of it tumbled.  
“But they are not. And that is his tragedy.”

Something in Light’s chest clenched painfully.  
_Hah. You don’t know what you’re talking about. What gives you the right to say my actions are not g-..._  
He felt strange then, as if his senses suddenly started to slacken with realization.  
As if, everything he thought he knew suddenly had a looming shade thrown over it.  
The feeling of dread.  
Dread? Or was it … guilt?  
He studied the monitors distractedly, trying to analyze the mental and physical incapacitation.  
After a moment, Light risked a glance at the detective.  
But L was no longer looking at him.  
And worse, he had become very quiet, as if he were waiting for Light to say something. 

‘What gives you the right to say your actions are good, Yagami Light? What gives you the right to pass judgement on behalf of all humanity?’  
He was imagining that low murmur in his ear, those raven strands, tickling at his cheek.  
‘No amount of elaborate labyrinths you construct can change it. There is only black and white. Right and wrong. You are not a god. And you are already mistaken.’

_No, I am the only one who can do this._  
His eyes hardened. 

After a moment, Light noticed the detective’s spine bow more than usual, and L finally broke the silence with careful typing.  
Light did not like this feeling.  
He wanted to run the pad of his thumb down the jutting outline of L’s spine to straighten it.

And suddenly, in frustration Light wanted to kill L even more. 

\- 

* * *

\- 

What was it about L that was so interesting?

Light did not like to lose. But Light enjoyed a challenge.  
Yes, L was the all-in-one, top-of-the-line, premium package he never had, customized solely for him to spar with.  
The rumpled-looking combatant who packed a surprising power-kick.  
He was incredibly intelligent and he uncovered Light's steps efficiently and brutally.

But also…  
There was the other part of it that Light admitted only in the darkest crevice of his mind, when his guard was down, the Shinigami was gone, and just as his eyes were closing.  
When he was in that bleary moment between waking and sleep:  
That despite the physical polarities, L was undeniably just like him.  
The one he hated most… with the intellect he loved most.  
And because of this, L was the one Light couldn’t stop from entering because their minds moved the same motions, and stepped the same pace.  
L was the only one who had ever accessed him so intimately.  
It was a touch of thoughts at first. And Light allowed it with curiosity.  
Their eyes met and spelled a hundred proposals hidden behind their unreadable faces. 

In his bed, in the dark, Light swallows tightly and the skin of his throat begins to thump with the heightening of his pulse. He rests the pads of his fingers there, and then lets them trail down to his collar. 

L is good at this game of intellectually undressing him. Teasing him with whispered accusations and undoing him. Until he is left waiting and wanting. And then L is penetrating him with a shameless stare, exploring him, hesitantly at first and then viciously, pounding fact and hypothesis and rhetorical bait with that thumb and those fingers brushing emphasis at his parted lips. And Light sees spectrum colors and feels alive, and their statements grind together until they finally join. And L’s words, and L’s complex ideas and the way L neatly dissects Light’s theories are enough that he feels it build up inside him, reinforcing, urging, countering, debunking, and his voice, that murmur, the dark tone and the eloquent manners, the curling alignment of that spine jutting through pale skin, the spikes of his raven hair feathering his nape, the damp coils of it after a shower.  
L is dishevelled and naked, and smells like the dust on the court and trampled grass. And he is invigorating, and stimulating and deceiving, his slim fingers on him, winding Light’s mental tolerance on a tightening spring mechanism. Harder, and more, and testing him. Fucking with him. Fucking with him. Fucking him.  
His heart was pounding in his ears, his eyes were closing, his mouth was taut and those shuddering breaths were escaping.  


“Damn you… Ryuzaki…” A harsh whisper that dwindles into a soft hiss.  
“God… damn… you…- ...L.” The name escapes tightly, still much too loud for his liking. But he ignores it, straining and arching as he rides the sweet lapping motions until it shatters him and he bites into his inner cheek much too hard, tasting the tanginess of metal blood, his stained tongue swiping across his lip, his groan becoming a low fading hum. 

And then his eyes are opening, slowly focusing on the shadowy ceiling of his new room.  
The buzz is thrumming along his body and he is breathing hard.  
The fluid is sticky on the expanse of his stomach and palm. 

And for the first time, he doesn’t know what to do despite being Mr. To-Oh University and scoring 100%.  
Yagami Light, Kira, the god of the New World - doesn’t know.  
And the next day, when he is fully-awake, he doesn’t admit it. 

\- 

* * *

\- 

L was merciless and stubborn and knew exactly what it was he wanted. 

Light continued to think this, even through his self-imposed confinement.  
Even more strongly after he'd denounced the notebook and lost all his memories; and especially after he stared into the barrel of a gun his father held to his face the day he said he would kill him.  
The conviction grew, after he'd touched Higuchi’s notebook and gained all his memories back.  


He saw it on L’s face that moment in the chopper precisely after he’d gripped the worn black cover and screamed much too loudly. After everything he chose to forget returned in sharp, jabbing flashes, in just the way he’d planned...  
Light was aware that L knew what he wanted, and it was back.  
Yagami Light, Kira, his sparring partner, his tennis opponent, his first friend. 

Light was writing Higuchi’s name on the piece of notebook paper hidden inside his wristwatch now, and he played it too close because for a split second L seemed to notice.  
Light felt his chest seize at the thrill of being discovered.  
And then the World’s Greatest Detective curled his knees to him and became impossibly still, hardly flinching even when the businessman finally fell to the concrete dead from a heart-attack.

Light was giving the notebook back when it happened.  
L touched the opposite corner of a frayed end and looked at him, allowing it to dangle firmly in the small space between them.  
And for a second it seemed he had figured everything out.  
Light’s breathing quickened.  
This also didn’t seem to escape L. 

“I can understand that you were overwhelmed at the sight of something you thought did not exist, until this point...” He mused.  
It was a careful choice of words, and highly suggestive of the fact that L had figured out the temporary amnesia. And that L was also boldly assuming Light now remembered. 

“Yeah. But it makes a whole lot of sense now. Doesn’t it, Ryuzaki?” Light looked back significantly, his eyes reflecting reds and blues and glares of white police spotlights.  
He was revealing more than he should, and willingly so.  
He was taking a risk for L, willingly so.  
But why?  


_Because I’m Kira. There’s nobody like me you’ve ever met before._  
_We’re one and the same, and you still want this. Tell me._

“…Hm.” L did not blink.  
_You want this case._  
_You want me._  
_Tell me._

Somewhere in the distance, an ambulance was blaring and it was getting louder.  
Light let go of the notebook, the red hues streaking over it as L’s pale fingers held on. 

“Yagami-kun...” Something in L’s murmured tone lingered like a floating note, and the hairs on Light’s neck prickled in anticipation.  
He was looking out now, at the Shinigami made of bones, and thumbing idly at the chopper’s ignition.  
Light felt his pulse escalate when the man finally turned to him again, because there was familiar curiosity in those obsidian eyes... 

“I should have to suspect this will bring more unanswered questions to the case...” L finally ventured.  
“- and I intend to find answers to all those questions.”  
His eyes were inspecting Light’s again, gauging the killer underneath.  
The other man leaned his cheek on his knuckles, waiting.  
“You know that I will leave no stone unturned to get what I want.” L spoke the last part barely above a whisper, but Light didn’t miss the spark of challenge in that dark gaze. 

_And what you want is my capture._  
_All the pieces to complete this puzzle._  
_You want to know me._ _All of me._  


Light knew then, that as tangled-up as all of this was, the truth was still that L wanted to play.  
The World’s Greatest Detective knew that Kira was right under his nose, and that Kira was Yagami Light.  
Light would continue to mislead him, and L would continue to find the hard evidence to finally convict him.  
Because they were both childish.  
And they both hated to lose.  
And this was the way they had grown intimate. 

_You’re mine, L._

“Looks like it’ll take some time to find all that out.” Light’s voice lowered dangerously.  
“I will find the piece that does not fit.” There was certainty in L’s fixed monotone.  
“Why do you say it like that? As if you’re alone. We’re together in this, Ryuzaki.”  
“Are we?” L’s expression remained vacant.  
But this was never the way to read either of them.  


Light’s stomach wedged because he realized the detective was implying something only he could decipher and this was part of the intimacy they shared because Light was one step ahead, and then one step behind, but mostly...  
_I’m right beside you._

He began to feel an untimely giddiness spreading, and it was turning into a bubbling laugh of victory.  
Struggling now to maintain control, he managed a small smile.  
And it was a few long seconds before he finally answered.  
“Of course.”

_L. You want to keep me close as your friend and closer as your enemy. And I will oblige._

“Then we will start the interrogation on the Shinigami, analysis of the notebook, and encoding of names on the pages, tonight.” L instructed, slipping back into default state without missing a beat.  
“The Kira Taskforce...-” Light started with a cued blink.  
“- will be filing reports and briefing the state press while Watari contacts the ICPO and investigates the rest of the members of Yotsuba Group.” The detective answered, watching the stretcher being pulled down from the ambulance. Higuchi was mounted on it, and the white sheet was thrown over his dead body. 

“And you will remain with me.” L murmured.  
Light did not miss this implication either.  
_Left alone with you._

But L wasn’t finished.  
“We will continue encoding the details of death, accessing the victim’s files, and providing each other with possible conclusive evidence… At least thoroughly, until I notice a change in either of our mental or physical states -”  
“- If it’s to that point, then we’ll have to work somewhere comfortable, Ryuzaki.” Light mildly cut him off.  
He was not naive, and he knew exactly where L was taking this.  
“After the Shinigami is contained. Laptops. In my room. I also have a couch.” The detective said, uncharacteristically clipped, before unfurling himself and leaning into the cabin behind the cockpit. 

But Light knew that L did not want that piece of conversation to end.  
And Light knew L did not want this entire case to end.  
And he most certainly knew that L was inviting him to his bed… and giving him options. 

Watari pulled off his headset as L began to instruct him, efficiently providing a schedule of events on the spot. Light glanced down at the notebook beside the detective’s feet, conveniently placed where he could reach.  
And then Light realized another minute detail that had escaped him, and he almost smiled. 

Not that it mattered in this case,  
L had flown the helicopter without shoes. 

-


	4. Chapter 4

**EPILOGUE: YOU WIN.**

-

L was standing, drenched, eyes blinking up at the dreary skies. 

“What are you doing?” Light raised his voice over the constant slap of rain.  
L was deceptively fragile-looking now, with his clothes pressed slick to his skin.  
But Light had an archive of ‘Nights’ and ‘All-Nighters’ in his mind’s library, and he could thumb to any book's chapter with L in it to attest that he was not fragile... in any way at all. 

Light’s photographic memory was also keen enough to know that Matsuda had left one umbrella inside the utility closet behind him.  
But when L gave him that comical expression, cupping a hand to his ear and stretching his mouth into a wordless ‘hah?’ ...  
Light willingly walked into the rain, to him.  
And he continued to stand there as L talked about incessantly-ringing church bells and implied funerals, and remained rooted to the spot even when L asked him if there was any one point in his life he ever, ever really told the truth...  
“Ryuzaki, obviously, nobody is ever perfect. But I'll always consciously make sure that I don’t tell lies I know will actually hurt somebody.” Light answered.  


A round of applause for Mr. To-Oh University.  
L smiled then, and looked down, the droplets pooling at the tips of his raven strands.  
“I suspected you would say something like that...”

"Im sorry." He finally whispered, and a few droplets snaked down his jaw.

"Ryuzaki, you don't have to apologize for something so trivial."  
Light softened and looked at those downcast obsidian eyes, the dark circles of insomnia under them.  
Countless nights being awake with his mind too busy.  
This case had exhausted L. But he had worked hard and long. And he had worked impressively.  
... It was a shame.  


-

 _The sun shone through the window, casting an orange glow around the Shinigami and Light's eyebrows furrowed, as he swivelled slightly in his chair._  
_"Raito, Listen carefully. When a human agrees to use the Death Note. They will have to know..."_  
_Ryuk's unblinking yellow eyes stared through him as he grinned._  
_"Their souls can neither go to Heaven. Nor Hell. When they die, they will become only... 'Nothingness.'"_  


Something gripped at his throat, all too suddenly, wringing a surprising, uncalled-for emotion.  


"Let's go inside, Yagami-kun." L lifted his gaze and their eyes met.  
Light felt something settle in him then, and it flowed and blanketed and enveloped him.  
And for a moment, he did not feel alone.  
He broke their stare, casting his face up, grateful for the weather.  
Because the rain was like a shrouding gossamer curtain, and it disguised many things conveniently.  
He welcomed it to his face, because his eyes were blurring without him wanting them to, and it washed this kind of evidence away. 

-

L didn’t know why his mind chose this time to play such a memory.  
He was online schooling the orphans of Wammy’s House, instructing them on proper Scientific Methodology.  
He had asked if anyone had any questions.  
“What is L most afraid of?” A little girl asked excitedly.  
A few kids giggled at this. And some sneered at the question, declaring that L was not afraid of anything. 

“What I am most afraid of…” L repeated.  
He thumbed at his lip and blinked at the monitor. 

“Well,” The vocal distorter relayed to the room of orphans, “I suppose, Monsters.”

-

It was still raining outside.  
They were at the stairway making new puddles as they sat, both men drying themselves off.  
L had decided to give Light something to remember after coming out to retrieve him.  
Something absurd, so it would never be forgotten.  
Of course, he decided to give him a foot massage. 

Light noticed when L suddenly ceased kneading.  
He looked down, only to see the detective very still.

“... It will be lonely, wouldn’t you think?” came the whisper.

This posed question would be L Lawliet’s final effort to call Yagami Light back.  
To coax the pen out of his hands and the notebook back to the Shinigami it came from.  
It was a deducted conclusion and an accurate forecast of what would come.  
But more than anything, it was a very important decision L was waiting to hear, that would spare or end him. 

His own voice was flooding his thoughts as he waited, remembering.  
**_“There are, of course, many kinds of Monsters. But A Lying Monster is a nuisance, more cunning than other Monsters... “_**

L’s pale fingers gripped the towel, tracing with pressure along the sole of his companion’s foot.  
He watched the droplets land and bead over that perfectly unmarred skin. 

**_“They pose as humans even though they have no understanding of the human heart…”_ **

The man above him said nothing and there was only careful restraint when he finally caught L’s gaze.  
But L was done playing now and he gave whatever semblance that was left of Yagami Light, a genuinely sad smile. 

**_“They seek friendship even though they do not know how to love.”_ **

Somewhere in L’s mind, there was the sound of a whistle, there was a tennis match in the spring and there was Yagami Light, smiling, briefly raising his racket to acknowledge the people who congratulated him.  
L’s pulse was still thrashing, and he was inhaling the fragrance of apple blossoms, and he was wondering what it was about Yagami Light that was so very interesting.

The droplets of water bled into concrete.  
L’s head was bent now, the shadows and raven locks falling over his eyes.  
And it was only then that the other man realized it:  
Whatever powered the Greatest Detective in the World was suddenly gone, and Kira had won. 

L felt a towel press almost tenderly to his forehead, and he no longer stopped himself from imagining that this might be different from all the other times Light had done this.  
Because he was certain now, in all the times they stayed together by choice or not, this final tenderness was real.  
And that this was Yagami Light’s parting gesture. 

_... It will be lonely, wouldn’t you think?_

“What are you talking about, Ryuzaki?” The tone was an oblivious question and perfectly-played as usual.  
And that lie was all the answer L needed.  
Yagami Light knew exactly what he was talking about, and he had made his decision. 

“You and I will be parting ways soon.” L concluded, feeling a strange peace come over him, feeling all the exhaustion of all the months leave him. 

_You will be in jail. Or I will be dead._  
_But we will always be-_  


His phone rang as expected, and he stood to answer it. 

He knew after speaking to the voice on the end of the other line, that he was holding the last puzzle piece to complete this picture:  
A way to disprove the 13 day rule on the notebook.  
If he was right, it would shatter the perfect illusion Kira had built.  
And Kira would never allow that. 

L knew his biggest fear was also the thing he wanted most in this world.  
This Lying Monster. 

_Yagami Light, if I die today… The likeliness that you are Kira is…_

But suddenly L found it pointless to think about estimates, because he was already certain.  
And had been for a long time.

“We need to head back. Come on.” L murmured after he hung up.  
Kira watched his spine settle into its curl.  
And he followed the detective.  
No longer walking alongside him.  
But lurking carefully from behind.  


_**“If I were to encounter such a monster**_

. 

. 

. 

_**… I would likely be eaten by it.”** _

And L would die on that day, losing the game, looking into the eyes of a Monster just like him.  
It would be 6 months after he had first lost to Yagami Light on the tennis court.  
And 10 months after realizing that he was not alone after all.  


-

\-- End: Monsters --

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thank you for reading. :)   
> I actually watched Death Note years ago when it first came out.   
> But at the time, I thought I could never write about Light and L's complex relationship, because I felt it was simply beyond my abilities.   
> I didn't want to desecrate such a beautiful psychological dynamic.   
> But now years later, I decided to watch it again. And I finally gathered the courage to write something over the span of 4 days and endless editing. 
> 
> Thank you to my beta-readers: Kass and Nix.  
> Without you, this wouldn't be the work it now is. 
> 
> Thank you to anyone who bothered to read all the way to the end.   
> It was a pleasure! :)
> 
> \- Second_Best


End file.
